The Southern Company (NYSE:SO) Shares Acquired by Commerce Bank

Commerce Bank increased its position in shares of The Southern Company (NYSE:SO - Free Report) by 5.8% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 150,989 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 8,246 shares during the quarter. Commerce Bank's holdings in Southern were worth $13,616,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of SO. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC grew its position in Southern by 168.1% during the third quarter. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC now owns 311 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 195 shares during the period. West Branch Capital LLC increased its holdings in Southern by 34.7% in the 3rd quarter. West Branch Capital LLC now owns 501 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $45,000 after acquiring an additional 129 shares in the last quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Southern in the second quarter valued at about $39,000. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its stake in Southern by 31.8% in the 2nd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 585 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $45,000 after buying an additional 141 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Friedenthal Financial purchased a new stake in Southern during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $52,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.10% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently commented on SO shares. Mizuho downgraded Southern from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $90.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Monday, September 16th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Southern from $90.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Barclays upped their price target on Southern from $71.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Southern from $77.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Wolfe Research lowered Southern from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $89.27.

Insider Buying and Selling at Southern

In other Southern news, EVP Bryan D. Anderson sold 6,565 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.54, for a total transaction of $587,830.10. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 44,467 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,981,575.18. This trade represents a 12.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO James Y. Kerr II sold 30,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.64, for a total value of $2,689,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 145,088 shares of the company's stock, valued at $13,005,688.32. The trade was a 17.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.18% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Southern Stock Down 0.4 %

SO stock opened at $87.97 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a current ratio of 0.91. The Southern Company has a fifty-two week low of $65.80 and a fifty-two week high of $94.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $96.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.46, a PEG ratio of 3.21 and a beta of 0.52. The company's 50 day moving average price is $89.78 and its 200 day moving average price is $84.57.

Southern (NYSE:SO - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The utilities provider reported $1.43 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.33 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $7.27 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.14 billion. Southern had a net margin of 17.87% and a return on equity of 12.78%. The company's revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.42 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that The Southern Company will post 4.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Southern Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 6th. Investors of record on Monday, November 18th will be paid a dividend of $0.72 per share. This represents a $2.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.27%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 18th. Southern's payout ratio is 66.98%.

About Southern

The Southern Company, through its subsidiaries, engages in the generation, transmission, and distribution of electricity. The company also develops, constructs, acquires, owns, and manages power generation assets, including renewable energy projects and sells electricity in the wholesale market; and distributes natural gas in Illinois, Georgia, Virginia, and Tennessee, as well as provides gas marketing services, gas distribution operations, and gas pipeline investments operations.